The Warriors' Day Parade is an annual military parade in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is open to Canadian war veterans, military personnel, first responders and para military marching contingents and bands.[2] The name was coined by Governor General of Canada Julian Byng, was established in 1921, and is organised by the Warriors' Day Parade Council.[3] The parade is held on the third Saturday of August which is the second day of the Canadian National Exhibition. The parade honours the service of Canadian men and women in the armed forces.
The parade route begins at the Princes' Gates, travels along Princes' Boulevard and ends at the Stanley Barracks. Veterans are organized by their units, wars and demonstrations. Veterans are welcomed from Canada and the United States. The Warriors' Day Parade Council awards organizations that participate.[4] The parade is often planned to commemorate specific events such as notable battles.
Following the world wars, participants in the parade included up to 30,000 military veterans. In 2019, the number of veterans participating was estimated at just below 3,000.[1] A number of privately owned military vehicles and classic cars also take part in the parade, representing various military vehicle preservation associations.[5]
In conjunction with the parade, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) waives transit fares for the day for Canadian Armed Forces personnel, veterans and companions.[6] The TTC Honour Guard also participates in the parade.[6] Similarly, GO Transit also offers free travel for the day of the parade to veterans and current personnel.[7]
History
The Exhibition grounds were originally part of the Military Reserve and the relationship between the exhibition was established early. The CNE had been hosting military parades and demonstrations beginning in 1879 to honour military veterans.[8] One notable veterans' day took place at the CNE on August 27, 1919. Veterans of the Great War were given free rein of the grounds until the afternoon, when they attended a baseball game on the Toronto Island. In the evening, the veterans returned to the fair grounds to be reviewed by Edward, Prince of Wales who was visiting Toronto and be entertained by a special show at the Grandstand.[9] It was estimated that 115,000 persons attended the CNE that day, including 30,000 veterans, some of the battleship HMS Renown.[9]
The Warriors' Day parade council was formed in Toronto in 1921, extending the work of the CNE. The council desired a specific day to pay tribute to living veterans of the First World War. Council declared "Warriors' Day" and in the early years, it was the first day of the Exhibition.[10]
The first Warriors' Day parade was held on August 27, 1921. The parade started at Trinity Bellwoods Park, (then the site of Trinity College) and followed Queen Street and Dufferin Street south to the Exhibition grounds.[11]Governor General Lord Byng, the former Commander of the Canadian Corps at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, took the salute of the veterans in the afternoon. To those present whom he had commanded at Vimy Ridge: "Byng Boys, I wish you luck. I do not say that because it is the ordinary thing to say to you. I say it to you from the bottom of my heart. I wish you luck in your pleasures, in your work, in your homes, whatever you are doing and wherever you are. Byng Boys, I wish you luck."[12] In the evening, festivities were held at the Grandstand for the veterans, including a massed band concert, dancing, gun displays and boxing.[11] The participants included the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Forces nurses, veterans of 1866, past wars and World War I.[11]
In 1927, the Warriors' Day Parade coincided with the dedication of the Princes' Gates, attended by HRH Edward, Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George. The archway was built to commemorate 50 years of Canadian Confederation. The parade followed the Royal party along Lake Shore Boulevard through the new arch. The parade was then reviewed by the Princes.[13]
In 1938, the parade attracted 20,000–30,000 Forces personnel and veterans from units in Ontario, Australia and Newfoundland. The eldest present were veterans from the Fenian Raids of 1866 and Australian veterans from the Boer Wars.[14] The Grandstand was used as the reviewing stand for the large contingent.
From 1942–1946, the Exhibition Grounds were used as a military camp. The CNE was cancelled, as well as the Warriors' Day Parade. The fair resumed in 1947 along with the Warriors' Day Parade. The 1947 parade was attended by a record 272,000 persons. Its route was altered along Lake Shore Boulevard to avoid the Grandstand construction site.[15]
The 1959 parade saluted the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway with NATO warships attending, and the ships' companies marching. Lord Mountbatten, Admiral of the Fleet, took the salute from the veteran marchers.[15]
In 1966, a South African veteran passed away on parade. An order was issued to prohibit those veterans from marching in the parade, however twelve veterans over the age of 85 defied the order and joined the marchers in the 1967 parade. Cars to carry those veterans were not approved.[16]
In 1999, the Grandstand was demolished and the saluting stage moved to the Band Shell.[17] In 2003, the parade was cancelled due to the electrical blackout. It resumed in 2004.[18]
In 2007, the parade honoured the 90th anniversary of Vimy Ridge. For the first time wounded veterans from the Afghanistan campaign participated. The Language School of CFB Borden contributed 110 officers to march in the parade.[18]
The 2011 parade was its 90th anniversary. A gala celebration for the veterans and volunteers was held at Hart House hall.[18]
In 2015, the parade commemorated veterans of World War II on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.[19] In 2017, the parade commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid.[20][21]
The 2020 and 2021 editions of the parade were cancelled due to COVID-19.[22][23] This postponed the 100th anniversary parade to 2022. About 1,500 veterans, current Forces members, Royal Canadian Legion members and US military personnel marched in the parade. The parade had 25 marching bands.[24]
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle occurred from 9 to 12 April 1917, marking the commencement of the Battle of Arras and serving as the inaugural assault of the Nivelle Offensive. The objective was to draw German reserves away from the French forces, preparing for a crucial offensive along the Aisne and the Chemin des Dames ridge several days later.
Vimy is a commune in the French department of Pas-de-Calais. Located 3.8 kilometers (2.4 mi) east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers who were killed during the First World War. The Memorial is also the site of two Canadian cemeteries.
Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy,, was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation.
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual fair that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Labour Day, the first Monday in September. With approximately 1.6 million visitors each year, the CNE is Canada's largest annual community event and one of the top fairs in North America. The fair is a combination of agricultural exhibits and events, carnival rides and entertainment, live music, food and special events. Special events include the Warriors' Day Parade, the Labour Day Parade and the Canadian International Air Show.
Givenchy-en-Gohelle is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The village was destroyed during World War I but was rebuilt after the war.
Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197-acre (80 ha) site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial, and national historic sites. The district's facilities are used year-round for exhibitions, trade shows, public and private functions, and sporting events.
An Armed Forces Day, alongside its branch-specific variants often referred to as Army or Soldier's Day, Navy or Sailor's Day, and Air Force or Aviator's Day, is a holiday dedicated to honoring the armed forces, or one of their branches, of a sovereign state, including their personnel, history, achievements, and perceived sacrifices. It's often patriotic or nationalistic in nature, carrying propaganda value outside of the conventional boundaries of a military's subculture and into the wider civilian society. Many nations around the world observe this day. It is usually distinct from a Veterans or Memorial Day, as the former is dedicated to those who previously served and the latter is dedicated to those who perished in the fulfillment of their duties.
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a war memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It also serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers of the First World War killed or presumed dead in France who have no known grave. The monument is the centrepiece of a 100-hectare (250-acre) preserved battlefield park that encompasses a portion of the ground over which the Canadian Corps made their assault during the initial Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive of the Battle of Arras.
New Fort York, later the Stanley Barracks, is a former British and Canadian military base in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It was built in 1840–1841 to replace Toronto's original Fort York at the mouth of Garrison Creek as the primary military base for the settlement. Unlike the older fort, many of the new fort buildings were made with limestone instead of wood. A protective wall was planned for the new fort but was never built. The fort was used by the British army until 1870, and the Canadian military subsequently used the fort to train troops for the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. It also trained one of the first regiments of the North-West Mounted Police. The Canadian military stopped using it after World War II and the fort was demolished in the 1950s. Only the Officers' Quarters building remains on the site.
Victory Day is a national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on 16 December to commemorate the defeat of the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and the Independence of Bangladesh. It commemorates the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, wherein the commander of the Pakistani Forces, General A. A. K. Niazi, surrendered to the Mukti Bahini and their Indian allies, ending the nine-month Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh genocide and marking the official secession of East Pakistan to become the new state of Bangladesh.
Coca-Cola Coliseum is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. It was built for the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 1921. Since 1997 it has been part of the Enercare Centre exhibition complex. It serves as the home arena of the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League and the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies, the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will also serve as the home arena of the Toronto WNBA team when it debuts in 2026.
Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northern boundary at Steeles Avenue with some discontinuities and continues into Vaughan, where it is designated York Regional Road 53. The street is named for Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1872 to 1878. Prior to 1878, the street was labelled as Western City Limits or Sideline Road south off Bloor. In 2003 and 2007, it was voted as one of "Ontario's Worst 20 Roads" in the Ontario's Worst Roads poll organized by the Canadian Automobile Association.
Exhibition Loop is the terminus for the 509 Harbourfront and 511 Bathurst streetcar routes, the 174 Ontario Place-Exhibition, and the 307 Blue Night Bathurst bus routes. Exhibition Loop serves Exhibition Place, Coca-Cola Coliseum, BMO Field and connects with GO Transit at the Exhibition GO Station.
Dufferin Gate Loop, also known as Dufferin Loop, is a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus station and turning loop for streetcars near the southern end of Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), the loop becomes a primary access point for visitors entering Exhibition Place via the Dufferin Gates. This west entrance to the CNE can be reached by the Dufferin Street bridges across the Lakeshore West railway corridor and Gardiner Expressway.
The Princes' Gates is a triumphal arch and a monumental gateway at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Made out of cement and stone, the triumphal arch is flanked by colonnades on both of its sides, with curved pylons at both ends. The 350-foot-long (110 m) structure serves as the eastern gateway to the Canadian National Exhibition, an annual agricultural and provincial fair held at Exhibition Place.
522 Exhibition West was a streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission from the 1960s to 1986.
The centenary of the outbreak of World War I occurred in the summer of 2014, with events in several European and Commonwealth countries. It marked the beginning of a wider four year centenary period commemorating the war.
Day of the Foundation of the Republic is the Republic Day and National day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, held on 9 September.
The Canadian National Exhibition is an annual fair held at the end of August in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1879 as a modest industrial exhibition and has expanded to an annual fair that attracts over one and a half million persons during its two-and-a-half week run.
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